Heating apparatus



Sept. 14, 11937.-

c. 3. CARSON 2,093,349

HEATING APPARATUS origina-1 ljiled sept. 27, '192s 2 sheets-sheet 1 A "Y A N ArrRNEY y II s Qn] J'INVENTOR NH y N k* t CCCarJan/ Sept. 14, 1937.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 14, 1937` l HEATING APPARATUS Clifford C. Carson, Cleveland, Ohio Original application September 27, 1928, Serial No.. 308,681. Divided and this application August 24, 1931, Serial No. 559,090

13 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for heating rooms or buildings, such as factories, theaters 4 and the like, and aims, among other objects, to provide an improved heater installation having means to discharge a curtain or stream of air at relatively high velocity above a stream of heated air and thereby confine the heated air below the breathing line until a substantial portion of the heat is given up. The main idea is to increase the emciency of ordinary unit heaters or indirect air heaters by confining the discharged heated air to circulate in the inhabited portion of a building or room to reduce the heat losses by maintaining a minimum difference between 16 the temperature o`f the air atthe roof or ceiling and that oi the outside air.v

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 308,681, filed September 27, 1,928, entitled Method of heating", maturing into Patent 1,820,893, issued August 25, 1931. Y

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. l is a front elevation oi' a unit heater embodying the invention; s Fig. 2 is a sectional view 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing a heater ,o in an ordinary shop or factory building.

Referring particularly to the drawings, the improvements are shown embodied in a well known .type of unit heater I0 having'a sheet metal casing II at the bottom of which is arranged a centrifugal fan I2 within a scroll I3. The fan is mounted on a shaft I4 and is adapted to recirculate room air through the casing II in heat exchanging contact with heating coils or heat exchanging elements I5 and out through a horizontal outlet or nozzle I6. The coils I5 are usually heated by steam. However, the source of heat is immaterial. In this example, the conning curtain or stratum of relatively cold air is discharged substantially horizontally above the issuing stream or stratum of hot air. While the curtain may be created in a great variety of ways, a series of centrifugal fans I'I are shown as being mounted within housings I8 in the form of separate scrolls secured to the top of the casing II. These fan housings are conveniently made of `sheet metal and have intake Aopenings I9 -at their opposite ends. Each of the fans discharges through a fiat nozzle provided by a sheet metal hood 20, preferably hinged at 2| to the upper walls of the fan taken on the line housings, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. .The hoods are shown as having vertical side walls 22, the rear ends of which overlap the side walls of the fan housings and the arrangement is suchthat the hoods may be adjusted to vary the width of `5 the nozzles and the thickness of the air curtains issuing therefrom. In this instance, the upper wall of the casing II is extended forwardly and has lugs or brackets 23 carrying bolts 24 adapted to be secured in any one of a series of holes 25 10 through the vertical side walls 22 of the hoods. 1 However, the mode of adjustment may be widely varied. y

To prevent the cold air curtain from creating eddy currents and commingling with the hot air, l5 the hoods are bent upwardly at their forward ends and the forward ends of the scroll extensions 26 forming the bottom walls of the hoods are bent downwardly so that the nozzles are Venturi-shaped in cross section as viewed in Fig. 2. By lowering the hoods to create relatively thin air curtains, the volume of the cold air may be raising the hoods and vice versa. Thus, the relative volumes of air in the hot and cold streams may be varied. It has been found in practice that the cold air stream or ,streams should be discharged at about twice the velocity of the hot air stream. For heating large plants, the velocity of the hot air should be about 1500 feet per minute and that of the cold air curtain or stream should be about 3000 feet per minute. 0f course, these velocities may be widely varied, depending upon the design of the heater, the sizeof the building or room, the heating demands and other factors. 35

While the fans may be separately driven, they are shown as being driven by a single motor 21 supported upon a bracket 28 on one side wall of the heater casing II. The fan shafts are extended through the sidewall of the casing and of the fan housings and have pulleys 29 and 30 'driven by belts 3l and 32 on pulleys 33, at the opposite ends of the motor shaft. The speed ratio of the fans is determined by the sizes of the pulleys and may be changed to vary the velocity ratio of the hot and cold air streams or strata.

In Fig. 4, a unit heater of the type described is shown in a factory building of ordinary design. One or more units may be arranged within the building depending upon their capacity and the heating requirements. In this figure, the separate strata of air are indicated by dotted lines to convey a general idea ofthe operation, no attempt beng made to show how the air is deected or any eddy currents that may be created vand sub-combinations.

because the paths of the streams where they are somewhat dissipated cannot be clearly shown.

Inasmuch as the method of heatingl by projecting separate strata or streams of air at different temperatures and velocities is described in more or less detail'in my aforesaid co-pending application, it is unnecessary to `point `out the advantages in this application. It is suiilcient to statethat, the high velocity cold air curtain serves to coniine the hot air to circulatebelow the breathing line (live feet) until a substantial portion of the heat is given up in the inhabited portion of the building. 'I'he cold air is of greater density than the warm air and will tend to overcome the tendency ofthewarm air vto riseto the ceiling. Practical demonstrations' have proved that heaters of the general type shown will reduce the temperature rise per foot of height above the breathing line to less than l per cent of the temperature at the breathing line, thus materially reducing the heat loss at the roof or ceiling of the enclosure. In buildings having monitor roofs or high ceilings, the cost of heating is materially reduced.

Obviously, rthe present invention is not restricted'to the particular embodiment thereof herein shown and described. Moreover, it is not indispensable that all the featuresof the invention be used conjointly, sinceV they may be employed advantageously in various combinations Furthermore, it is to be understoodthat the invention is not limited to the particular use herein disclosed.

What I claim is:-V 1. A device ofthe character described comprising, in combination, a casing; air heating means within the casing; a ran arranged to create a current "of air through the casing; an

outlet for ndischarging heated `air substantially in combination, a unit `heater includingV a. casing horizontally near rthe top of the casing; means associated `withthe casing above the heated `air outlet for creating" a blast of air at a lower, temperature thanthe air'from the heater and at a greater velocity; and ayvide nozzle communicating with said' means'and arranged to discharge said relatively low temperature air in a relatively thin` substantially horizontal stratum above the heated discharging air.

2. A device of the character 'described cornprising, in combination, a casing; air heating means'within the casing; a fan arranged to create a current of air through the casing; an outlet nozzle for dischargingheated air'substantially horizontally near the top of the casing; a tan housing associated with the casing; a fan Within the housing arranged to createa blast of relatively lowtemperature air at a greater velocity than the heated air; a wide nozzle above the heater casing vconnected to discharge a thin stratum of the relatively low temperature air in a substantially horizontal stratum above -the discharging hot air; and means to vary the thickness of said stratum discharged from said nozzle.

3. Apparatus for heating buildings or enclosures, comprising, in combination, a unit heater including a casing having a substantially horizontal discharge outlet; means to create and discharge aheated air stream horizontally from the heater through the space to be heated near the' oor level; and separate Ameans associated with the casing connected-to create andy discharge a substantially horizontal curtain oi' relatively cold air above and .adjacent to the discharged heated air to conilne the heated air near the door level.

4. Apparatus forheating buildings or enclosures, comprising, in combination, a unit heater having a plurality of heating coils therein; a substantially horizontal discharge outlet; a fanarranged to blow air around the coils and discharge it horizontally through said outlet into the space to be heated; a plurality or fans above the heater; an adjustablehood having aqnozzleshaped discharge opening above the discharge opening for the heater`a`nd connected to discharge air from said fans above the heater in the form of a substantially horizontal curtain above the discharging heated air; and driving means connected to said fans.

5. Apparatus for heating a room or enclosurel comprising, in combination, va. casing; air heating means in the casing;`me ans to create a draft of air through the heating means; a substantially horizontal outlet for directing the heated air into the lower portion of the room or enclosure; and means .including a wide nozzle supported on said casing above the heated air outlet for discharging a conning stream of relatively cold air substantially horizontally above and adjacent to the issuing stream othe'ated air.

6. Apparatus for heating a room or enclosure comprising,in combination, air heating means; means to create a draft of air through the heating means; means for directing the heated air substantially horizontally into the lower portion of the room or enclosure; and a fan having a wide discharge nozzle above and adiacent to the outlet for the heated air and arranged to discharge ya stratum of relatively cold air at a. high velocity above and approximately parallel with the stream of heated air to connne the heated air so that it will circulate in the lower portion of the room or enclosure until a substantial portion of its heatis given up. y l

'7. Apparatus oi the class described comprising.

having a discharge nozzle arranged to direct heated air into the lower'portion `ofa room or enclosure; a fan within the casing; a plurality ot l centrifugal fans having housings mounted on the casing; adjustable hoods connectedto the housings andf providing nozzles for directing -a substantially horizontal stratum oi relatively cold air immediately abovethe discharging heated i air; and means to drive `the f ans `at such .speeds as to discharge the streams oi' air at 4such velocities that the cold air stratum eil'ectively coniines the heated vair so that it will circulate in the lower portion of the room or enclosure until a substantial portion of its heat is given up therein.

8. Heat exchanging and air distributing apparatus for rooms or enclosures comprising, in combination, a casing having a wide, horizontal outlet to discharge air into the space to be heated;

a heat exchanger in the casing; 8 1! air conduit having a wide horizontal outlet immediately the upper stream traveling at a greater velocity than the lower stream and the lower stream be-` ing heated by said heat exchanger.

9. In an air heater for rooms or enclosures, a

lcasing having a wide, horizontal outlet to discharge air into the space to be heated; a heat exchanger in the casing; an air conduit having a wide horizontal outlet immediately above the outlet from and supported by the casing; means to create and discharge streams of air through' both outlets, the vlower stream passing through the heat exchanger and being heated thereby; and

means to vary the relative discharge velocities of the two streams.

10. Heat exchanging and distributing apparatus for rooms or enclosures comprising, in combination, a heat exchanger; a fan for delivering air through the heat exchanger; a'n outlet leading from the heat exchanger and arranged to discharge a substantially horizontal stratum ot conditioned air into the enclosure; a separate conduit having a discharge outlet adjacent to said outlet from the heat exchanger to discharge a' second stratum of air substantially parallel with and adjacent to the first stratum and at a different temperature and different velocity; and a fan connected to deliver air through said conduit.

11. Heat exchanging and air distributing apparatus for large rooms or enclosures comprising, in combination, means i'or creating separate streams o! air; means for discharging saidv ratus for largevrooms or enclosures comprising,

in combination, an air conduit having an outlet arranged to'discharge a stream of air into said room above the normal breathing line; a fan for creatingsaid air stream; a second air -conduit having an outlet immediately below vthe rst mentioned outlet; a second fan connected to recirculate room air through said second conduit and create a separate air stream oi different velocity discharging substantially horizontally into the room through said second ymentioned outlet so that one stream aids in distributingthe other throughout the. room; and heat exchanging means for the air forming one of said streams whereby the upper stream is always cooler than `the lower stream to make the habitable portion of the room comfortable.

` 13. In an air conditioner and Ventilating device of the character described, a heater casing having a ian .connected to discharge a warm 'stream of air substantially horizontallyinto a room or enclosure; means mounted on the casing todischarge a wide, relatively cold stream of air above and approximately parallel with the warm stream including `an independent outlet adjacent to the discharging warm air stream, whereby one stream retards the vertical movement of the other: and means to vary the relative thicknesses of said streams.

CLIFFORD C. CARSON. 

